Service unit for air cleaners and process of use therefor



Sept. 26, 1939.

J. M. BORN 2,174,311

SERVICE UNIT FOR- AIR CLEANERS AND PROCESS OF USE THEREFOR Filed July29. 1937 Patenteci Sept. 26, 1939 UNITED STATES SERVICE UNIT FOR AIRCLEANERS AND PROCESS OF USE THEREFOR Julius M. Born, St; Paul, Minn.,assignor to Vulcan Manufacturing 00., Inc., St. Paul, Minn., acorporation Minnesota Application July 29, 1937, Serial No. 156,375

d Claims.

Still a further object is to provide a cleaning and reoiling unit forair cleaners having a reservoir for cleaning fluid and convenient meansfor withdrawing the cleaning fluid therefrom and projecting it throughan air cleaner merely by applying a compressed vair chuck to the unit.such as is found availableiat garages and service 15 stations.

A further object is to provide the unit with means ,for dryingthe aircleaner by evaporating the cleaning fluid therefrom, this also beingaccomplished by applying a compressed air chuck to the unit.

Another object is to provide a container connected with the unit forcontaining a supply of oil to reoil the air cleaner after it is cleanedand dried, the oil being withdrawn therefrom and discharged into the aircleaner by applying an air chuck to an air nozzle provided therefor.

Still a. further object is to provide a unit which, during the cleaning,drying and reoillng of an air cleaner, involves the process of firstdischarging cleaning fluid therethrough; second, discharging airtherethrough to dry the cleaner; and third, discharging oil into the aircleaner for reoiling it for its intended service.

With these and other objects in view, my in vention' consists in theconstruction, arrangement'and combination of the various parts of thedevice, whereby the objects contemplated are ettained, as hereinaftermore fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view through a service unit for aircleaners embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view on the, line 2--2 of Figure 1.

Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic views showing respectively the steps ofcleaning and drying the air cleaner by means of my service, unit; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view similar to a portion of Figure 1illustrating a modified type of reolling container for my service unit.

On the accompanying drawing I have used the reference numeral III toindicate a base. A tubular post-like reservoir H extends upwardly there-55 from. The post H is secured to the base ill by means of a clean outnipple It. The upper end of the nipple I2 is threaded into a closureplate I 3 formed on the bottom of the reservoir M and which is welded inposition, as indicatedat it.

Within the base It a lock nut 55 is positioned 55 on the lower end ofthe nipple l2 and a clean out cap i8 closes the lower end of the nipple.A drain cock l'i projects into the side of the reser voir II and islocated slightly above the bottom plate l3.

At the top 01' the post or reservoir it I provide a head plate l8, abovewhich is mounted a container comprising a bottom part it and a cover 20.The bottom part IS, the plate It and the upper end of the reservoir Hare secured to- 15 gether by means of a series of bolts 2i. The headplate l8 has an air inlet passageway 22, a cleaning 'fluid passageway ororifice 23 and an oil and air passageway 24., An air nipple or nozzle 25communicates with the passageway 22 and is adapted for connection of theusual air or tire chuck therewith for discharging air into the reservoirII to displace its contents.

' The contents of the reservoir l-l may comprise any suitable cleaningfluid, such as gasoline, in- I dicated at 26 in Figure 3, and this fluidis displaced through an intake pipe 21 leading to the discharge orifice23.

An air and oil nozzle 28 communicates with one end of the passageway 24while the other end thereof communicates with an upright pipe 29. Thepipe 29 has an air nozzle 30 at its upper end and a Venturi tube 3|extending into its side. The pipe 29' and the tube 3| are located in anoil container 32 carried by the base plate Ill.

The cover 2|!- is hinged to the container bottom l9 as indicated at 33.A handle 34 is provided for the convenience of the operator in openingthe container. Louvered perforations 35 are provided in the cover 20 topermit the escape of air without permitting the escape of any dropletsof cleaning fluid or oil which might be prejected into the cover 20.

Arc CLEANER. Snnvromo Process 1. Cleaning the air cleaner Initially aquantity of gasoline or other clean-. ing fluid is poured into thecontainer bottom l9 andflows down the pipe 2'! to fill the reservoir II. When it starts running out of the air chuck 25, the operator knows.that the reservoir is full.

' The first step of the process involves projecting the cleaning fluid26 through the air cleaner as illustrated in Figure 3. After the aircleaner, indicated at A0, is placed in the container l9-20 (thesecleaners being usually a perforated sheetmetal container filled withcopper wool or other air filtering material which is oiled to catch dustfrom the air passing through the air cleaner) an air or tire chuck 30 ofa compressed air hose 3! is applied to the air nozzle 25 for dischargingair into the reservoir H, m indicated by the dash line arrows. Thecleaning fluid 2 6 is thereby displaced through the pipe 21 anddischarge oriflce 2!, the nozzle spraying the air cleaner AC asindicated by the solid line arrows.

The cleaning fluid will collect in the container bottom II, as indicatedat 26a, during this step of the process, the excess air escaping through\reasonably included within their scope.

the louvered openings 85.

2. Drying the air cleaner After the cleaning fluid 26 has been displacedto the level of the lower end of the pipe 21, the i air chuck it isapplied to the air nozzle 30, which at first continues the cleaningprocess as any of the cleaning fluid m remaining in the container bottomI! will be projected through the air cleaner AC.

As soon as all of this fluid has drained back into the reservoir Ii,through the discharge oriflce 28, however, then air only will passthrough the air cleaner and be discharged through the louvered openings35, this step of the process being continued until the cleaner has beenthoroug y dried. v

3. Reoilina the air cleaner The oil container 3! is then fllled with areoiling fluid ll, such as No. 40 S. A. E. crank case oil to about thelevel illustrated in Figure l. The air chuck ll is then reapplied to theair nozzle II and will draw the oil I! from the container II in throughthe tube ll by Venturi ac-' tion andspray it from the nozzle 38 into theair' cleaner.

When the supply of oil has been exhausted, the cleaner will bethoroughly oiled and ready for another period of service.

The cleaning fluid It may be re-used a number of times for successiveair cleaner service operations. By permitting it to stand in thereservoir ii, the dirt will settle to the bottom and may be cleaned outby removing the cap I, after draining out the fluid from which thesediment has settled through the drain cock II. Occasionally, of course,the supply of cleaning fluid it must be replenished to take care ofevaporation, although the fluid from the drain cock II can be used.

The unit is self-contained and may be operated eiflciently andeffectively by the mere introduction of compressed air to the nozzles 25and ll in the manner described.

As shown in Figure the oil container may comprise a transparentreceptacle 32a having a Venturi nozzle "a. The nozzle Ila cooperateswith an air nozzle II which in turn is connected with the air nipple ato spray oil by Venturi action into the air stream flowing to thepassageway 24a. Air, in passing from the noule 38 across the upper endof the nozzle Ila, will draw oil through a valve II when open and as theoil recedes in the receptacle Ila the quantity thereof being used up canbe observed by a scale ll thereon. i

The receptacle 32a is readily removable for instance by being screwthreaded into a cap ll connected with a valve 3!. The cap I is providedwith a vent opening. The receptacle 82a may be shed with oil and duringthe process of reconditioning the air cleaner the drying process may becompleted while the valve 39 is closed and after its completion it ismerely necessary and others may be made in the construction andarrangement of the parts of my device without departing from the realspirit and purpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover bymy claims any modified forms of structure or use of mechanicalequivalents which may be I claim as my invention:

1. In a device of the class described, an openable container adapted toreceive an air cleaner, means for projecting cleaning fluid through saidair cleaner comprising a reservoir adapted to contain a supply ofcleaning fluid, spray means directed into said container, andcommunicating with said reservoir adjacent the bottom thereof, an airchuck nipple connected with said reservoir to place the cleaning fluidtherein under pressure by connection of an air chuck thereto to projectthe cleaning fluid through'said spray means into the container, a secondair chuck nipple, a passageway leading therefrom, an air dischargenozzle communicating with said passageway and directed upwardly from thebottom of said container, said air discharge nozzle being independent ofsaid spray means and effecting discharge of air through said air cleanerby coaction of an air chuck with said second air chuck nipple and saidcontainer having means adjacent the top thereof through which air mayescape after passing through the air cleaner.

2. In a device for cleaning air cleaners, an enlarged base member forsupport on a floor surface, an elongated upright hollow post mountedthereon and constituting a cleaning fluid reservoir, an enlargeddiameter container supported on the upper end of said post, saidcontainer being of substantially less height than the height of saidpost and raised substantially above the floor surface by said post, saidcontainer being adapted to receive an air cleaner and having spray meansand a nozzle directed upwardly from the bottom and toward the interiorthereof, means for discharging cleaning fluid through said-spray meansfrom said reservoir and means for discharging air through said nozzle,said container having means through which air may escape from the upperpart of said container.

3. In a service unit for air cleaners and the like, an elongated uprighthollow post for containing a supply of cleaning fluid, an enlarged basemember for supporting said post on a floor surface, an enlarged diametercontainer supported on the upper end of said post, said container beingraised substantially above the floor surface by the post, said containerbeing openable and adapted to receive an air cleaner, said containerhaving spray means and a nozzle directed toward the interior thereof,said upright hollow post constituting means communicating with saidspray means for directing cleaning fluid thereto and including an airchuck nipple in communication with said hollow post, a second air chucknipple connected with said nozzle, said spray means, when an air chuckis associated with the first mentioned one of said air chuck nipples,effecting the passage of cleaning fluid through the air cleaner in thecontainer under the force of pressure produced by the air supplied tosaid first nipple and said nozzle e!- i'ecting discharge of air throughthe cleaner when an air chuck is associated with the second air chucknipple, said container having means through which air may escapetherefrom as cleaning fluid or air are discharged into the container.

4. In a device for cleaning air cleaners. a base member for support on afloor surface or the like, an elongated upright hollow post mountedthereon and constituting a support. a container supported on the upperend of said post. said container being of substantially less height thanthe height oi said post and raised substantially above the floor surfaceby said post, said container being adapted to receive an air cleaner andhaving spray means and a nozzle directed upwardly from the bottom andtoward the interior thereof, said nozzle terminatinghigher than saidspray means, means communicating with said spray means for supplyingcleaning fluid thereto and through an air cleaner when received in saidcontainer and means for discharging air through said nozzle.

JULIUS M BoRN.

